Portugal may be one of the poorest countries in the European Union, but some visitors to Lisbon count that as an attraction.
Recent decades have brought modern shopping enclaves, tony bars and high-end boutiques to the city, but development frenzy has not yet run rampant through its most atmospheric old quarters. Prices remain a comparative bargain and, in districts such as Alfama, Bairro Alto and Lapa, you can still find the sort of unpretentious Old World ambience that has all too often fallen prey to bulldozers elsewhere on the continent. There are few better places to experience an earlier time and place than the 34-room York House.
Located at the eastern edge of the city's upscale Bairro Lapa district, this small boutique hotel is housed in a building that was constructed in the early 17th century as a Carmelite convent, commonly known as the Convento dos Marianos. When the powerful Marquis of Pombal terrorized Portugal's religious orders in 1759, the convent was shut down and the property began a long history of serving many different functions.
It was a military hospital in the mid-19th century, then the Lisbon headquarters of an evangelical religious sect, and later, as the 19th century drew to a close, it was turned into an inn by two women from Yorkshire (hence the name).
Since the end of the Second World War, the most recent series of owners have gradually polished York House into a secluded gem that has attracted notable visitors who value its cloistered atmosphere. Guests have included writers Graham Greene, John Le Carré, Vieira da Silva, Raul Brandao and poet Teixeira de Pascoaes, as well as a host of lesser-known European artists and entertainers.
Once past its entrance, cut discreetly into high, pink-stucco walls on a quiet street, York House guests ascend vine-canopied stone steps that evoke an era somewhere between the two world wars.
An intimate cobblestone courtyard is fringed by a jungle of flowering trees and shrubs, and an ancient date palm spreads massive fronds above outdoor tables. On one side is a barrel-ceilinged lounge entirely encased in wood panelling, on another is an intimate restaurant, and on the third the entrance to the hotel itself. Cool, vaulted corridors are floored with polished wood, tile or marble and walls in the common areas, as well as guest rooms, are accented with richly patterned azulejos tiles. In warm weather, tables spill into the courtyard from both the restaurant and the bar in a convivial mingling reminiscent of the atmosphere of a manor-house party.
Clientele
This is not a place for revellers. Guests -- mostly from England, France and Germany -- tend to be conservatively well-dressed couples in their middle years who have come to the York House for its quiet and eccentric ambience. (Imagine Graham Greene and John Le Carré having a quiet talk about spies while enjoying a gin and tonic under the date palm.)
Judging from overheard conversations, many are repeat visitors who have found a place they like and are sticking to it.
Rooms
Carved into the nooks and crannies of a building that has been added to and renovated repeatedly during the past three centuries, York House rooms tend to be unique in both shape and décor. Some feature four-metre high ceilings, canopied beds and antique wardrobes, others slanted ceilings, exposed wall beams and Victorian furnishings. Don't bother looking for CD players or data ports, although the rooms do have satellite TV, private baths and telephones. Most have windows that face the courtyard, adding to the feeling that you are a guest in a country home.
Ambience
The hotel works hard to imitate a less-hurried era, when lengthy periods of quiet leisure were expected and enjoyed by a certain class of European traveller. Apparently, enough of those travellers remain to make reservations at this hotel necessary many months ahead of a stay. But be warned: It will not be popular with young children, and young children will not be popular with most guests.
Food and drink
Portuguese food writers have ranked the York House restaurant among the country's top 50. Like the rest of the hotel, it is a place of interesting corners and intimate alcoves trimmed with azulejos under vaulted ceilings. In the summer, a wall of doors is thrown open and tables spill into the courtyard.
Cuisine offered on the restaurant's menu is predominantly Portuguese with an emphasis on seafood. Starters could include spicy fish soup and codfish cakes stuffed with butter and parsley, or clam tagliatelli and a cockle-and-maize porridge. Main courses range from lobster in orange and tarragon sauce to roast duck prepared with thyme. Fillets of hare sautéed with port wine are exquisite -- pink meat that practically melts at the approach of a fork. A four-course meal for two, with a bottle of Portuguese wine from the restaurant's excellent cellars, costs about $150.
Things to do
York House is a five-minute walk from Lisbon's Museum of Ancient Art, with its superb collection of 15th- and 16th-century Portuguese paintings, French silver tableware and furniture, and Portuguese and Portuguese-influenced tapestries, carpets and furniture.
Nearby are easy streetcar connections to the entertainment district of Bairro Alto and the Baixa shopping district. Also close is the River Tagus shoreline with the historic Belem district to the west and Alfama and the castle district to the east.
Information
York House: 32 Rua das Janelas Verdes; phone 351 (21) 3962435; fax 351 (21) 3972793; e-mail yorkhouse@hlcmm.pt; Web http://www.yorkhouselisboa.com. Room rates: $200-$260 double occupancy.